Who was Cecilia Monzón, the lawyer and activist murdered in Puebla?

Since before her murder, Cecilia Monzón was recognized as “the women’s lawyer.”

Ceci was not only fighting in court against men who violated women, but was also dealing with a personal case: the alimony claim against the father of her son, Javier López Zavala, former Secretary of Social Development in the government of Mario Marín Torres (2005- 2011) and former candidate for governor of Puebla.

On Friday, one day before she was murdered, she went to the local Prosecutor’s Office to ask why the file on this case had not been prosecuted, even though she had already delivered all the elements for it.

In 2018, when she was a Green Party candidate for the presidency of San Pedro Cholula, Monzón denounced politician Manlio López Contreras for gender-based political violence, who called her a “sociopath.”

Later, in 2019, the activist accused EE Manlio of death threats. She reported that they reached her through Facebook. She recommended that he be careful with the brakes on her truck and hire a babysitter for her son because soon her absence would be long. Although she requested protection from the local Prosecutor’s Office, she did not obtain it.

Monzón became the first woman in Mexico to get a sanction for gender-based political violence, Manlio is not included in the list of violators, because this was not completed until 2021.

In 2019, she also denounced the then president of San Pedro Cholula, Luis Alberto Arriaga, with whom she worked for a year as director of Social Development, for unjustified dismissal and gender-based political violence.

He also denounced former local deputy José Juan Espinosa Torres for harassment and violence. In 2018, before becoming the Green candidate for the presidency of San Pedro Cholula, Monzón denounced the then state president of the PRI, Jorge Estefan Chidiac for allegedly forging his signature to put it in the last places of Eduardo Zacatelco’s list, who competed at that time for that mayor.

Cecilia militated for several years in the PRI, where she held various positions, mainly representing young people.

Ceci was part of Women Leaders of the Americas; She was a member of the Kybernus Collective National Feminist Network and the first Women’s Parliament in the State of Puebla. In addition, she also had Spanish nationality.

“Spain firmly condemns the brutal murder of the Spanish lawyer and human rights defender Cecilia Monzón Pérez, perpetrated in Puebla (Mexico). Likewise, he conveys his most sincere condolences and deep solidarity to her family and friends, ”wrote Foreign Affairs of Spain”.